Despite winning at least 54 games every season after his first with the team, D'Antoni never led the Suns past the Western Conference Finals. / Robert Hanashiro, USA Today

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

LOS ANGELES - Legions of Los Angeles Lakers fans awoke to their worst nightmare on Monday morning: Their beloved Zen Master would not be returning.

After two days of preparations for the Phil Jackson reunion parade - with Kobe Bryant campaigning, Magic Johnson imploring and widespread reporting that he was the overwhelming favorite to replace Mike Brown, who was fired Friday - in came Mike D'Antoni. As Lakers radio color commentator Mychal Thompson told USA TODAY Sports earlier Sunday, the notion of anyone but Jackson taking over this star-studded roster seemed remote.

"Phil has all the electoral votes from the fans, so it should be a landslide," Thompson said then. "It'd be like (Walter) Mondale unseating (Ronald) Reagan (in the 1984 election) if Phil is not the coach."

But D'Antoni is no Mondale, and the Lakers faithful will realize soon enough this just might work.

For starters, he will have support among his constituents. Bryant is a huge fan of D'Antoni's, having played for him on Team USA and idolized him as a boy growing up in Italy when D'Antoni was a star for Milan. Their relationship is very real and very deep and in stark contrast to the one forced upon Bryant when Brown was hired without him being consulted in May 2011.

Nash is the resident campaign manager, having forged a bond with D'Antoni during their time together in Phoenix that rivals the one between Bryant and Jackson in their later years together. The other most relevant future Hall of Famer, that being center Dwight Howard, is sure to fall for his new coach considering his expertise in the play that the big man is so adept at - the pick and roll - and his easygoing personality that is anti-Stan Van Gundy in every way.

While D'Antoni has as many championships as Brown (none), he is innovative and bold in ways that Brown was never known to be. His vaunted seven-seconds-or-less offense, which was examined wonderfully by Sports Illustrated's Jack McCallum in his 2007 book by that name, led to a 232-96 regular season mark (70.7%) from 2005 to 2008 as the Nash and Amare Stoudemire-led Suns fell in two Western Conference Finals, a semifinal and a quarterfinal. His three seasons in New York (103-143 record, swept in his only playoff appearance) were unflattering to say the least but largely forgiven because of the dysfunction that surrounded him and the mismatched rosters that hardly ever fit his point guard-reliant system.

D'Antoni will tweak his offense to fit this aging group, and he'll be a democrat in that regard as he finds a way to evenly disperse the offensive fun. But rest assured, Lakers ownership that was hoping to relive the "Showtime" era of the 1980s will have its wishes for a more up-tempo team granted. Yet whereas Nash would have been the player most in question if Jackson was hired and the triangle offense was installed, it's now Bryant who will have to find a way to adjust to having the ball less than he's accustomed to.

The Howard-D'Antoni pairing could be tremendous, as the coach who wasn't thrilled when Phoenix traded for a slow, overweight Shaquille O'Neal in Feb. 2008 will now have the sort of agile, athletic center he had hoped for then. Howard is more than capable of playing the role of Stoudemire in pick-and-roll sets with Nash, flanking off after setting the screen and barreling down the lane with his point guard like a pair of racing jets toward their target.

As for the defense, D'Antoni's aversion to that side of the ball means Howard & Co. will need to police themselves. Howard getting fully healthy after his April back surgery will help on that front, and the teammates who have such stellar defensive reputations - namely Bryant and Metta World Peace - must find a way to make up for the fact that they're just not as quick as they once were.

It's still championship or bust for the Lakers, but D'Antoni faces pressure right away because he's not the one with 11 rings. He may not be the dream coach for Lakers fans, but he's no Mondale. This just might work.